Sundance and Snow

Phew!  It's been a while since I've last posted.  I'm not sure if busy is the excuse, or if it is just pure exhaustion.  Maybe it is pure exhaustion from being busy.  Not sure anymore.  Without further ado, here are the latest happenings in the Tullis household...

We made our LAST graduate school tuition payment!!!  Ahhh...what a great feeling.

Emma is becoming a great little writer.

The bathroom demolition is coming along...slowly.  I never realized how hard it is to tear dry wall off the wall.

Two little cuties...

Andy and I got out to see 3 Sundance films together (and then I saw 1 more with a friend).  We saw "Love and Friendship" (which was based off of one of Jane Austen's book.)  We also saw "Southside With You" which took place in one day and was all about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date.  A friend and I saw "Lovesong."    

The actor who played Barack Obama looked and sounded exactly like him.

Our final film was the winner of the Dramatic Grand Jury Award and this was the LONG line to get in.  It was called "The Birth of a Nation" and it was INTENSE.  It was about Nat Turner and his life as a slave and then the rebellion he led to try to free the slaves.  It got picked up for $17.5 million so be on the lookout for this film.

getting every last drop of the ice cream

A couple of weeks ago, we got pounded with snow so, of course, we took full advantage of it.

night sledding

This was the view out our front door.  We couldn't even see the road.

ski date!

This was how our recess looked at school for about a week.

Andy juggling in the annual McPolin 5th grade circus

Then, this past week, the weather turned and it has been REALLY nice.  It was just in time for our sledding  and Super Bowl party.

A chili cook-off is a must for the Super Bowl.

This is what our recess looked like this past week--kids with no coats and bluebird skies.

  

A Quick January Update

It's hard to believe January is half over.  We've been plugging along, enjoying all of the fresh snow we have been getting lately.

I believe Abby put herself in "time out" here.  She is full of atti"twoed."

Our sledding hill is up and running!

This is our basement bathroom that is in serious need of a remodel/update.  I have already started doing a little demo. work!

 Emma is taking ski lessons every Saturday until mid-March.  Drop-off is at 9:15 a.m. and pick-up is at 3:45 p.m.  This little girl is exhausted at the end of the day!

Lessons are at Canyons so we have to take the bucket to get her to her lessons.  Abby loved it!

Abby put her friends down for a nap.  I love how she included her little ice pack and REI sticker.

I have slowly been printing off our blog into books, one year at a time.  I just ordered 2012!  Now I am only 3 years behind.  I figured I wasn't going to ever get caught up on scrapbooking, and blogging has been our way to document our memories, so why make more work for myself?!  I also order one for Emma, as a keepsake for her.  Once I get around to ordering 2013, I will start ordering 3 of each book:  one for us, one for Emma, and one for Abigail.  It's been really fun to watch the girls look back at the photos and memories (and us, too!)

Winter Break Week #2

The fun continued during our second week of winter break!  Even though the girls didn't ever sleep past 6:45 during our break (sigh), it was so nice not to have to be any place at any certain time.

Our first family snowshoe...Abby got snowshoes from Santa.

sisterly love...

 Emma's snowman

 We had a  little "daycare reunion" with an amazing group of parents and kids.

 I hope these girls (Katharine, Emma, and Barbara) stay friends for a long time.  It's hard to see, but their friends, Hudson and Asher, are way down on the end.  

 Abby and her friend, Halle--Hudson's sister, are such little cuties together.

making headbands with Katharine

 We went to Uncle Ben's house to celebrate New Year's Eve.  We only made it until New York's NYE but even that was a stretch for me!

Of course, Ben had to show them how to celebrate!

This is what happens when Uncle Ben gives the kids too much sugar...Abby twirls around on the table.

It's a good thing there was room to roam because these kids had some energy!

 Even the dads had to get in on the action.

After a 2-month hiatus, I finally brushed the dust off of these old friends.  Ahh...it felt good to pound the pavement again.

Another family snowshoe...

 Abby insisted on using a pole.

After our snowshoe, we had dinner at the Wasatch Brew Pub.  

Abby decided she liked onions.